A haunted hotel, an abandoned circus, a burnt-out pillow factory, a dead body pixelating under the bridge, toilets that run on vacuum tubes… you’ve never visited a place like this before.

In Thimbleweed Park, a dead body is the least of your problems. Switch between five playable characters to uncover the surreal secrets of this strange town in a modern mystery adventure game from the creators of Monkey Island and Maniac Mansion. The deeper you go, the weirder it gets.

Top story this week, Reggie Fils-Aime is stepping down as president of Nintendo of America effective this April

After being with the company for 16 years, and leading it for 13 of them, he’s moving on to spend more time with family and friends

The reins will be passed to Doug Bowser, the current head of sales and marketing, who has been working with Reggie for the past four years

They’re already leaning into the memes, with Bowser posting a photo thanking everyone for the warm welcome that has plushes of Mario and Luigi tied up together on a shelf

Reggie’s posted a heart-felt goodbye on the Nintendo of America Twitter account, thanking fans for their never-ending support and passion

In a bit of a roller coaster, some large Pokemon Go YouTube channels were deleted, then restored, this week

Apparently they had some innocuous videos flagged, and according to YouTube they were reviewed and given strikes for sexual content, specifically involving minors

This process even had one user’s GMail account completely disabled, leaving them unable to contact YouTube through normal means

Once the channels got in touch with YouTube to argue their case though, they were reinstated before the end of the day, saying that the YouTubers were taken down mistakenly

The root of the mistake seems to be the titles of the videos, referring to combat power as CP

It’s a common term in the Pokemon Go community, but it’s also unfortunately used as shorthand for child pornography

In the end it’s good that YouTube is making these kinds of efforts, but considering Google’s pockets I don’t think it’s unreasonable for a human to look at cases once they’ve been flagged for review

Niantic is bringing some quality of life improvements for everyone not playing Pokemon Go, to settle the class-action lawsuit from annoyed homeowners

The app will delivery courtesy reminders whenever 10 or more people are playing in the same location

They’ll also work with public parks to remind users of a location’s hours and make the associated stops inaccessible when closed, open a complaints reporting site, and grant removals for Pokestops within 40m of a single-family property

The named plaintiffs are also getting $1000 each, while the lawyers are requesting over $8M in fees and expenses

Samsung unveiled a bunch of new tech at their Unpacked event this week, and we’ve got a quick overview

Samsung has announced the Galaxy Fold, launching April 26th and starting at $1980 USD

It strikes me as the worst of both worlds- when unfolded it looks like a typical Android tablet, which have generally been lacking, and when folded it’s a really thick phone with gigantic bezels (seems like almost a full inch each on the top and bottom)

It feels like this is basically a folding tablet, with the exterior screen kind of tacked on to make it also a phone

If nothing else it will bring the foldable display technology some more popularity and inspire others to innovate further with the tech

They announced the new Galaxy S10 with an interesting ultrasonic fingerprint scanner hidden behind the somewhat excessive 6.7” edge-to-edge display

It’s also 5G ready, which is jumping the gun a bit because the networks sure aren’t

Samsung also announced Galaxy Buds, an Airpods competitor that can wirelessly charge from the S10 using PowerShare, and a fancy new batch of smartwatches to complete their matching set

Samsung Washer Video *Josh referenced this

Facebook may be facing multi-billion dollar fines after their role on the Cambridge Analytica user information scandal

The root of the investigation is whether Facebook violated the terms of a 2011 settlement with the FTC, prohibiting Facebook from misrepresenting the privacy or security of user info and requiring consent before overriding privacy settings, after they were found to have “deceived consumers by telling them they could keep their information on Facebook private, and then repeatedly allowing it to be shared and made public.”

The current investigation started in March of last year, after 87 million users’ info was given to a political consulting firm that did work with the Trump campaign

I’d be surprised if they weren’t also taking into account some of the more recent revelations, like making the posts of 14 million users public despite privacy settings set otherwise and giving away private information and photos left and right

If they fight the fines, which is sounds like they may based on their usual denials and non-statements, they could face a massive privacy lawsuit from the FTC and the US Government

Speaking of Facebook and bad data policies, a bunch of apps have come under fire for sending personal information to Facebook without user consent or controls

Among some of the worst offenders tested by the Wall Street Journal are

Realtor.com sends info on the listings that a user views, including location, price, and if they’re marked as a favourite

Instant Heart Rate: HR Monitor, the most popular heart-rate app on iOS, sends a user’s heart rate to Facebook immediately after it’s recorded

Flo Period & Ovulation Tracker tells Facebook when a user is having their period, or if they’re trying to get pregnant

Tidbits

Razer is closing down their game store after being open only 10 months

They were just reselling Steam and Uplay games, so as long as you make sure to activate your codes before Feb 28 you’ll be safe

They’ll also apparently still honour any existing preorders

Pokemon Go is now allowing players to switch teams, with a couple asterisks

It costs 1000 coins (earnable in gyms or by spending money), and can only be done once per year

The Netflix/Marvel partnership is officially over, with no more seasons of The Punisher and Jessica Jones, the last two Marvel series being made on the platform, being produced

The third season of Jessica Jones will still air sometime this year, but that’ll be the end

Time will tell if the eventual Marvel streaming service will continue the existing Netflix stories, or if they’ll need to reboot things

The final pieces of Shovel Knight, initially set to release on April 9th, have been delayed by “several months”

Originally revealed with a 2018 launch date, Shovel Knight: King of Cards, Shovel Knight Showdown, and the physical release of Treasure Trove have all been pushed back to an unspecified date this year, along with the associated amiibo three-pack

Recommend the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne

It’s an urban fantasy series that feels like a blend of The Dresden Files and American Gods, creating a world with people, monsters, gods, and goddesses from a wide array of mythologies and pantheons

It all comes together really well and sucks you in, with the books feeding in to eachother pretty directly

Including novellas I’ve devoured 17 books in the last three weeks, and I can’t wait to read the last few and see how it ends

Bad Description of Movies and Games

War veteran trys to radicalize a young man to assassinate key members of the government. (Movie)

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The Grinch Smash Bros leak has hopeful fans’ hearts shrinks 3 sizes. Apple launches new products for the holiday season. Josh recommends a spooky Syfy original, Alan has a book series that he promised is a quick read.

For more info, Patreon supports get access to our show notes!

A huge thanks to Dalton, our favourite fan. And thanks to all our Official Fans that support us.
And if you want to support us too, its as easy as clicking this link!

Also, make sure to check out RIPT Apparel for sweet 24 tee shirt designs. And don’t forget to use the coupon code PS2JSHOW for 10% off!

Josh is back from being sick. Heroes of the Storm is celebrating the Lunar New Year. Facebook wants your data in new exciting ways. Josh and Alan both recommend shows, but one on Amazon Prime and the other on Netflix.

For more info, Patreon supports get access to our show notes!

A huge thanks to Dalton, our favourite fan. And thanks to all our Official Fans that support us.
And if you want to support us too, its as easy as clicking this link!

Also, make sure to check out RIPT Apparel for sweet 24 tee shirt designs. And don’t forget to use the coupon code PS2JSHOW for 10% off!

Alan heard about a movie with a ton of famous people working in it, and its not out? Josh Is excited for a post apocalyptic adventure board game. Alan recommends a book with different perspectives on A New Hope. Josh suggests a deck building card game best for 2 or 4 players.

A KFC in China is scanning your face to algorithmically sell you chicken, or porridge and soybean milk. And wouldn’t you know, people are still using the ticking time bomb, that is the Note 7. Alan has an absolutely unfortunate recommendation and Josh has a short documentary to lose your phone over.

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